More than 150 athletes from all seven of the Catholic high schools in the diocese participated in the first rosary rally at St. Teresa High School in Decatur on Oct. 11.

St. Aloysius Parish and its grade school recently dedicated a statue of their patron saint during an October homecoming celebration. The statue was donated by Father Jeff Holtman, who was parochial vicar at the parish from 1988-1992.

EFFINGHAM — HSHS St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital patients are the fortunate beneficiaries of gifts from a generous teenager who decided that it was better to give than to receive on her birthday.

On Sept. 18, the seventh and eighth grade classes at St. Dominic School participated in a "street retreat." We prayed for the city of Quincy, the state of Illinois, the country and the world.

More than 300 sixth through eighth grade students from Quincy's four Catholic elementary schools were to have taken part in a diocesan junior high Youth Day on Friday, Oct. 16, at the Oakley-Lindsay Civic Center.

Students in several Springfield Catholic schools are putting their best feet forward by collecting shoes to help the poor.

ALTON — Aware that "pride is one of the seven deadly sins," Marquette Catholic High School Principal Michael Slaughter said he is very proud of what has transpired" at the diocesan school over the past eight years.

QUINCY — Enrollment is up slightly for the fourth consecutive year at Quincy's Catholic elementary schools. The total grades K-8 is 1,029 students, an increase of six, which includes 109 new students among all four schools: Blessed Sacrament, St. Dominic, St. Francis and St. Peter.

Over 300 youth from 10 dioceses spent the week of June 23-28 at Sacred Heart-Griffin High School learning more about the faith and helping the Springfield community. Camp attendees aided several organizations throughout the week, including Habitat for Humanity, Sojourn Shelter and Central Illinois Food Bank. They also helped with landscaping and repairs at local homes, parks and churches.

Imagine a church where young people pursue the adults to get involved instead of the other way around. One is asking how she can become a lector while another is hoping to become a eucharistic minister. Imagine further that you are overhearing a conversation after Mass where a few ebullient high school students astound the pastor by wondering out loud if there was room for their voices on the pastoral council. Hearing such offers would leave us feeling joyfully confounded. At the root of this hopeful scenario is a deep gratitude that the spiritual gifts of our youth are ready to enliven and strengthen our faith community, not in some future time but right here and right now.

JACKSONVILLE — Caitlin Smith, a 2015 Routt Catholic High School graduate, is one of the 200 selected members of the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Class of 2015.

The Springfield Area Young Adult Mass (YAM) donated $600 from their charity fund to several pro-life organizations, in honor of Respect Life Month. Pregnancy Care Center of Springfield, Lifetime Pregnancy Help Center of Springfield, New Life Pregnancy Center of Decatur, and Loving Arms Crisis Pregnancy Center of Taylorville, each received $150 to help their mission.

EDWARDSVILLE — Saturday, Nov. 8, will be a special day of fun and excitement to be held for young adults throughout Illinois.

The Springfield in Illinois Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (SDCCW) has awarded $500 scholarships to four young women, all recent high school graduates. The annual awards are given to those who best exemplify the values of DCCW by bringing spirituality, leadership and service to their school, parish and community.

EDWARDSVILLE — Two bands featuring young musicians from Edwardsville will be gathering April 5 to raise funds to financially assist the family of Willow Tolly, a junior at Edwardsville High School.

DECATUR — St. Teresa High School’s spring musical is Jesus Christ Superstar, to be presented on March 7 and 8 at 7:30 p.m. in the school gymnasium. Tickets are $8 and are available.

Five seniors from Sacred Heart-Griffin High School in Springfield have been named commended students in the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program. They are: Brian P. Hardy, son of William and Linda Hardy; Alexandria Lamtyugina, daughter of Bill and Tatiana Davis; Riley McManus, son of Dennis and LuAnne McManus; Kevin Thomas, son of Ron and Jan Thomas; and Sean Wesp, son of Susan Vogler-Wesp and Aaron Wesp.

The Key Club at Sacred Heart-Griffin High School, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Springfield, has installed its new student officers for the 2013-14 school year.

GODFREY — Budding artists at St. Ambrose School here know that if it can be recycled in Madison County, they can turn it into something beautiful.

Sacred Heart-Griffin High School students recently participated in the Science Olympiad competition at the University of Illinois Champaign and came back to Springfield having placed as a team as well as having earned several individual medals.

TAYLORVILLE — Sixth-graders at St. Mary's School have a new understanding of how the cardinals of the world came to vote for Pope Francis. Thanks to the help of their teacher Cathy Schaeffer and director of religious education Carole Harrison, the youngsters participated in a mock conclave that began on March 11 and ended on March 13.

ALTON — National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS) named 11 teens from Marquette Catholic High School as members of one of 19 teams from across the country that are leading a teen distracted driving prevention initiative in their local community. The teams joined over 100 youth to attend the third annual Teen Distracted Driving Prevention Summit that took place Dec. 1-3 in Washington, D.C.

MARYVILLE — Freshman year of high school was barely under way for Alixandria Horstmann when she experienced an unexpected illness that doctors predicted would keep her out of classes for four to six weeks.

Several students from Sacred Heart-Griffin High School in Springfield recently received honors in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Youth and chaperones from St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Chatham and Holy Cross Parish in Auburn participated in Catholic HEART Workcamp July 8 through 13 in the Archdiocese of Omaha. The 37 youth and seven adults stayed at Archbishop Bergan High School in Freemont, not far from Omaha.

ALTON — In keeping with the motto “Serviam in Action” three-fourths of the seniors at Marquette Catholic High School in Alton left for New Orleans on Feb. 27 to spend several days working toward better living conditions there. The 31 students were accompanied by their principal Mike Slaughter, Marquette director of advancement Meg Miller, and nine parent chaperones.

EFFINGHAM — Three years ago two young teachers at George Washington High School, on Chicago’s South side, volunteered to start a track and cross country program at the inner-city school.

DECATUR — Students at Holy Family School in Decatur donated over $1,100 to the American Red Cross to help in recovery efforts for the people in Japan. The impromptu fund-raiser started with a young boy who brought in a plastic bag full of coins and gave it to Cinda Farris, the school’s student council adviser.

A groundbreaking ceremony at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8, at the Sacred Heart-Griffin High School West Campus, 1601 W. Washington, will begin the first phase of its renovation and construction, which includes a St. John’s AthletiCare facility.